PR1 - Project Proposal - Elements ABC

Due No Due Date
Points None

Introduction

The purpose of the Project Proposal is to determine if the problem you have identified is worth pursuing. The Project Proposal is also an indication on whether you and your team have researched the problem thoroughly enough that you can be considered an expert on the problem.

Is seeking a solution to the problem justified when the effort is balanced against the cost and effort?
Is the problem you identified valid (recognized by a credentialed source)?
Are you an expert on the problem.

Your instructor will ultimately decide if you have provided enough evidence that the answer to these questions is yes and If you will proceed with this project based on your proposal.

For this review your team will develop a project proposal that:

academically / ethically justifies the need to solve the identified problem or;
would convince potential investors it is a project worth pursuing

The proposal is best documented using the Innovation Portal http://www.innovationportal.org/ Links to an external site.. However your instructor may wish to have you present the proposal in class and/or capture the proposal in another form. Your information should be written in a persuasive manner and organized such that all of the information and research is easily understood. The research should clearly support development of a solution. It is a best practice to site sources in APA format for all major evidences and that each element contain at least 3-5 paragraphs of context per Element to help the reviewer understand you evidences and claims.

Your proposal will be evaluated by your instructor and/or a review panel to assess the thoroughness of your research and the strength of evidence supporting development of a solution. Once the design process is complete this document will be extremely valuable as a means to share your work with experts and mentors that may assist with your team’s project.

Further, this documentation will become an important component of your final documentation and will provide much of the material needed to present your final project solution.

Procedure

Create an electronic project proposal document using the innovation.org portal’s template. It should include all sections detailed below and should meet any expectations set forth by your instructor. Beyond that, it is up to your team to ensure that the document is professional and impressive. Keep in mind that the purpose of the proposal is to sell your project idea by demonstrating that you have a valid and justified problem.

Continue to update all sections of the electronic portfolio throughout the year.

This proposal is designed to help you organize your work to date, synthesize the knowledge you have gained and plan for input and information you still need to gather. A description of the best score (“5”) from the innovation portal’s rubric is included so that you can judge your project’s strengths and where you need to do more work.

NOTE: For all elements, use standard (APA or MLA) formatting for sources. Anything that is not your original work (ex: images, statistics, expert interviews, data from books or online) should have a source. More information on citations can be found at:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl Links to an external site.
http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite Links to an external site.
http://easybib.com Links to an external site.
http://citationmachine.net/index2.php Links to an external site.

Project Proposal - Elements ABC (EF Optional)
(ABC major) (EF minor - These elements may be addressed in the Preliminary Design Review at the instructors discretion)
Your electronic portfolio should include, at a minimum, the following:

Home Page

The home page should include, at a minimum, the title of the project, team member names, and the date. Put a picture and description of the team members.

Element A: Presentation and Justification of the Problem

Objectives:

The problem is clearly and objectively identified and defined with considerable depth, and it is well elaborated with specific detail.
The justification of the problem highlights the concerns of many primary stakeholders and is based on comprehensive, timely, and consistently credible sources.
The justification offers consistently objective detail from which multiple measurable design requirements can be determined.

Reflective Questions to Answer:

What exactly is the problem?
How do I phrase it as an objective problem statement?
What is the background, context or setting of the problem?
Who in fact says that this is a problem worth solving and why should anyone believe them?

Include:

Problem statement
Problem background/statistics
Validation of problem:
Experts who say it’s a problem (what are their credentials?)
Consumers, users – surveys, interviews
Scholarly articles
Brief summary of existing products and patents (more in Element B)
List sources (in APA or MLA format)

Element B: Documentation and Analysis of Prior Solution Attempts

Objectives:

Documentation of plausible prior attempts to solve the problem and/or related problems is drawn from a wide array of clearly identified and consistently credible sources.
The analysis of past and current attempts to solve the problem—including both strengths and shortcomings— is consistently clear, detailed, and supported by relevant data.

Reflective Questions to Answer:

What are all of the methods, products, or actions that are being used or have been developed to try and solve this problem and exactly why doesn’t each of them actually solve the problem?
How do I/we prove to others that I/we have done an extensive search for possible current solution attempts?
Who has helped me/us identify and state the shortcomings of the solutions attempts found and why should anyone believe them?

Include:

Intro paragraph describing how you found your information and what you learned from prior solutions. Who helped you analyze these solutions. (hint: mentor or other expert)
Patents that address a similar problem that may or may not have made it to development – images, patent number, date of patent, abstract, pros and cons.
Existing/competitive products – images, price, features, strengths and weaknesses.

Element C: Presentation and Justification of Solution Design Requirements

Objectives:

Design requirements are listed and prioritized, and they are consistently clear and detailed.
These design requirements presented are consistently objective, measurable, and they would be highly likely to lead to a tangible and viable solution to the problem identified.
There is evidence that requirements represent the needs of, and have been validated by, many if not all primary stakeholder groups.

Reflective Questions:

Now that I know what the problem statement is and why current solutions are not solving the problem well enough, what are the measurable things a new design would have to accomplish (in order of importance) to be seen as a real solution?
How did I/we determine each of these design requirements?
If the product or system that your team develops is successful, how will you know? Brainstorm a list of benchmarks, against which you can compare your solution, that represent performance expectations that your solution must meet in order to successfully solve the problem. Benchmarks must be measurable. Sometimes a benchmark is a simple pass/fail assessment. Other times a success rate or percentage of success is the goal.

Include:

Intro paragraph on how design specifications, constraints, and parameters were determined.
Indicate who your primary stakeholders are (ex: users, buyers, sellers, manufacturers).
How you got input from these groups on design requirements and design goals.
Explicitly state that your list is in ordered by highest priority.
List design specifications.
Must be measureable and clear.

Element E : Application of STEM Principles and Practices

Objectives:

The proposed solution is well-substantiated with STEM principles and practices applicable to all or nearly all design requirements and functional claims.
There is substantial evidence that the application of those principles and practices by the student or a suitable alternate has been reviewed by two or more experts (qualified consultants and/or project mentors) and that those reviews provide confirmation (verification) or detail necessary to inform a corrective response.

Reflective Questions to Answer:

How do we show that our design ideas were not just guesses and that my/our ideas and each of the proposed design attributes really is based on sound logic and subject related knowledge?
Why does this proposed solution have merit to try?

The problem that you choose to solve will certainly require known math, science and/or engineering concepts. This can include formulas, laws, etc. Brainstorm a list of math, science and/or engineering concepts that you anticipate will be needed in order to solve your team’s problem. Consider applications of mathematics, chemistry, biology, physical science, nanotechnology, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, etc. that may be incorporated into your solution. Input from experts may be helpful in the identification of the concepts needed. You will continue to update this section as you research these principles and complete calculations.

Include:

Identify and describe science and engineering concepts you need to investigate.
Consider design stage, testing stage and data gathering stage.
Your team’s Gantt chart to detail all tasks, responsible parties, and due dates. Clearly define the entire scope of work in the task list. Be sure to consider the Rule of Thirds when making scheduling projections.
Explicitly list and describe each concept you might use – relate back to design specs where possible.
Describe who can help you validate your STEM work – what are training or credentials will you need your experts to have?
Some engineering principles to consider: project management (Gantt chart), documentation (engr. Notebook), stress, strain, material properties.
Any special computer programs, technology or equipment you might use?

Element F : Consideration of Design Viability

Objective:

The proposed design was carefully reviewed based on several relevant extra-functional considerations.
A judgment about design viability based on those considerations—the capacity of the proposed solution to address the problem—is clearly realistic and well supported with credible evidence.

Reflective Questions:

How do I/we show evidence that the proposed design has merit beyond the classroom or lab as a real solution?
How can I/we show evidence that the design could realistically get into the hands of the people the design is trying to help in a sustainable way?
What evidence would I/we have to offer to honestly ask a family to invest their life savings in this idea?

(NOTE: Please remember this is not information related to making a profit off of your idea in the stereotypical sense, but rather about if the idea has any chance of succeeding as a real solution. An idea to help very poor areas gain access to clean water is indeed a real problem to solve but not likely one that is about making a financial profit. It should be noted that even the most openly giving and caring of non-profit organizations will not invest their resources in any idea that has no plan for getting the solution working at the source of the problem in a sustainable way.

Include:

Market analysis – who are your competitors? How much do current solutions cost? How much will consumers pay? How does your product fit in?
Detail the important aspects of your team’s marketplace study. How can you be reasonably certain that if you solve the problem, a need and/or demand for the solution will exists? Who will buy your product? Why will they bother to try it?
How will your product be manufactured and distributed? Is this reasonable?